Chasing the Shadows
by DragonRaiderBlood
Summary: Every generation of shinobi, buries secrets. Shikaku Nara, and the new generation of shinobi are about to face their biggest challenge yet. With the new Akatsuki threatening a fifth shinobi world war, Shikaku must decide between the fate of those he loves between the fate of the people. Join the next generation with previous generations
1. Prologue

**I do not own Naruto. Please R&R**

**Prologue**

Shikaku walked silently to the graves of the shinobi he called family. He had many regrets in life, mistakes he wished he could change but the world still revolved whether he wanted it to go or not. He held a bouquet of roses, each with a different shade of red and white, the roses perked as the sunlight hit them eagerly, each moment waning slightly as he made his ascent upwards towards the stones that housed the shinobi that came before him.

Shikaku wore the standard jonin flak jacket. His forehead protector stood proudly on his arm as his blonde hair was put up in a high pony tail. Onyx eyes looked straight ahead, occasionally paying attention to the surrounding buildings that waltzed past him.

Shikaku wiped a bead of sweat of his forehead as the sun was like an oven on his skin. He didn't care who saw him any more, all he felt was the slight emptiness in his soul. The wind danced around him as leaves fell in the wind, being carried to a new direction each time.

He walked up to the graves and passed unfamiliar shinobi of the past who have fought and died. Friends of the loved ones gathered in various bunches, each mourning their own loss. Shikaku's lazy eyes wandered to a ceremony where the remains of a fallen shinobi he had heard of was being allowed his final resting place. Shikaku spotted people around the grave dressed in black with tears in their eyes, the sight made him grit his teeth.

_Today was the day of the mourning..._

"The place where the dead goes to rest in the land of the living," Shikaku's mind was reeling, past events began stirring as he knew if he tried to remember, the past would haunt him. "Anbu shinobi."

Finally he came to his destination. Shikaku stopped and took a deep breath. There was a tombstone, engraved was various images from the village Hidden in the Sands. He crouched down and wiped away the dust that had been building on the words that had been scribe on it. The tombstone itself was worn and hardly visible some of the letters that had once formed words. Each moment that Shikaku stayed, a heavier feeling reeled inside of him.

"Its been awhile hasn't it?" Shikaku chuckled at the tombstone, faintly smiling as he placed the roses in the purple vase. "I have been busy with the duties that had been placed on me since the Lord Sixth's..." Shikaku sighed as he lit the cigarette and placed it on an ash tray in his hands.

He stood up and sat down on his knees by the stone next to the tombstone. The tombstone was a lot more young with its words still visible and various symbols laid around it. Tears felt like brewing in his eyes as he wiped them away. "You are with her, in the land where the dead finally goes to rest above. Finally…." Shikaku closed his eyes as he placed the ash tray beside the grave and sat on his knees.

The wind passed gently as he looked sadly to the tombstone. Memories of the happy times jumped and danced in front of him, not willing to let go of those moments that Shikaku use to wish never ended.

It had been less than six weeks since the storm had passed, since his final battle with…

"Shikaku," he heard someone yell beside him, immediately he jumped and took a kunai to the stranger's head. The stranger stiffened as Shikaku relaxed slightly at the sight of the man.

"You know never to jump me like that," Shikaku scorned the man, retracting his kunai into it's pouch. The man was an obese older looking man, grey eyes harshly contradicted the red firey hair he had flowing down his back like a jagged waterfall. "What do you want Cho?"

"To see whether you were alright," Cho reasoned as Shikaku shrugged the man's kindness off. Shikaku started to walk off in a silent sadness, hatred was feeding off the sadness inside as he fekt heavy inside, heavier than a rock in water as he was weighed down by his own grief.

"I'm fine, leave me alone," Shikaku said fighting off any visible sight of being alone and upset as he just walked off, leaving Cho to sigh at sight of the man before him.

Cho turned his back and looked at the tombstones curiously, his abilities never allowed him to come across greatness such as the famed shinobi Taijustu master Rock Lee or the medical skills of Sakura Haruno, "I only came here because Dad wanted me to, not to help that village…"

"Fool…. Idiot…?" an old man's voice asked behind him, Cho turned to find an old man with flowing white hair behind him. Red robed covered the old man's body as Cho noticed an eye patch over his right eye, the old man's wrinkles were as clear as day. Cho jumped and tensed slightly, the ground beneath picking up dust as the old man had a strange cooling effect on him.

"What is it to you old timer?" Cho asked the old man who stood beside, looking at the tombstones of the people.

"What is you relationship to Shikaku?" the old man asked as Cho just crossed his arms and looked away to the distance of the mass graves.

"Just a friend who wants to help a man grief," the old man clucked his tongue unconvinced.

"Then leave the Hidden Shadow alone, that boy has gone through enough in his life to learn how to grieve," the old man looked at Cho's curious eyes with grimace.

"Who are you?" Cho asked the old man who flashed a broken smile, yellow teeth falling apart of the gums, lips puckered to keep up with the teeth's biting.

"I was once a famed and powerful ninja, now I am just an old man who has stories to tell."

"Tell me more than," a wicked smile flashed on Cho's face as he crossed his arms and stood tall. "Tell me everything about Shikaku Nara, son of the late visor to the sixth hokage." the old man raised an eyebrow at Cho's eagerness, no other student he had come across would want to hear about his stories.

"I must go back to the beginning child, you willing to listen?" Cho nodded as he sat down and crossed his legs.

'If it means I can learn more about him,' Cho thought to himself as he nodded vigorously to the old man. A little too enthusiastically for the old mans tastes.

"Fine then you brat, it all began…."

**End of Prologue**

**Hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Please R&R. Sorry it was short, I promise it will be a lot longer, also this is won't be revisted for a few chapters. The real story begins after this chapter.**


	2. Wilting Flowers

**Hope you enjoy the chapter as much I enjoy writing it. I love this story at the moment.**

**Chapter 2**

_It all began when Shikaku was just a child. Laughed at by fellow peers, he sort to become something, the Fire Nation could rely on._

"Shikaku!" Shikaku snapped awake as a book hit his head, it landed awkwardly over his eyes, as he brushed it away as it landed on the floor. He opened his eyes to find his class sniggering at him while his teacher looked mad in his face. He yawned as the teacher ripped the book from his desk and turned to his class. "Shikaku, a week worth of detention this afternoon, that should teach you to mess with my class."

Shikaku grumbled miserably as he plonked his head back on his desk, he heard people laughing behind his back as he cracked his neck to the side, earning a groan from the back of his throat.

"Isn't you Dad coming home from a mission today?" the boy beside him asked. Shikaku looked lazily at him, blonde hair with streaks of orange and black eyes looked curiously at Shikaku.

"Yes," Shikaku sighed as he banged his head against the desk as some of the girls in the class rolled their eyes at him, some of the boys laughing as he looked uncaring at them., "Now I got detention for the third time in a row,' Shikaku rested his chin on his hand and looked sleepily at his teacher.

"Don't you mean fourth?" the boy replied as Shikaku closed his eyes and began to hum silently.

"Shut up, Chojo," Shikaku murmured to him, despite the other boy's happy nature that radiated throughout his body. Shikaku sighed, "Mum's going to kill me for this."

Chojo laughed at him, earning a book smashing from their teacher, who looked furiously at the two. The whole class was silent except for the occasional snigger, which allowed others to laugh quietly. The two shrank back in their seats, as their sensei grew serious once again.

"Do you want me to put you on detention too, Mr Akimichi?" the two boys groaned as their teacher went back to the lesson on tactical stealth, which half of the students ignored, as Shikaku fell asleep again in class, once more.

* * *

"Class dismiss," happy pre genins walked out the room, buzzing with excitement as Shikaku sat gloomily in his seat. Chojo looked sadly as Shikaku shrugged and cocked his head to the side. Chojo nodded and ran off, as his teacher walked up to his desk.

"Do you realize why you are here?" his teacher asked sternly, pushing away blonde bangs that hang low to the side of his face, Shikaku's face looked blanked as his teacher sighed loudly.

"Because I talked in class," Shikaku asked bored as he trailed his eyes to the side.

"No."

"Then you are keeping me here for no reason, Umino sensei," his teacher raised an eyebrow at Shikaku's statement as Shikaku looked smug in his seat.

"You are here because you fail to apply yourself, you are not going to pass with your peers if you keep this up."

"I will, just…."

"Just….."

"Nothing, " Shikaku leaned back and closed his eyes, greatly annoying his sensei further. "Do I have a detention or are you going to lecture me? Because, my mother is going to kill me since I got a detention anyways." Shikaku chuckled, as his mother's image flew in his mind.

"How's your father?" his teacher decided to change question.

'_This is so much more like a questionnaire_,' Shikaku thought annoyed as his teacher changed his stance. More relaxed, less edgy than he seemed before.

Shikaku shrugged, "Fine I guess, coming back from a mission today. Why do you care?"

His teacher chuckled, "I really don't actually. I got a wife and kid coming on the way to go back home to at the moment, you really are just an assignment by the hokage." His teacher shook his head,

"Well then, I must be S ranked," Shikaku joked as his teacher laughed back. An awkward silence fell between them as none of them had anything to say.

"You can leave Shikaku," his sensei told him as a third bell rang, he closed his book and started to pack his own things from his desk. Shikaku nodded quickly while he gathered his things in a mess and ran out of the class room as fast as his legs could take him, leaving his teacher to sigh. "Honestly, what am I supposed to do until those pre genin exams are up. Crap the Headmaster is going to kill me."

_Meanwhile….._

Shikaku laughed as he bounced up and down in the air, excited to go home and see his old man come home. The crowd buzzed in the market square as he avoided people while he ran to meet his mother, it was filled to the brim with customers, and children laughing with their parents.

The atmosphere around him was a happy joy as he stopped by an old oak tree, whose branches hang low as its wilted to it's side. Orange and red leave floated past as he waited for his mother to come pick him up, as she normally went shopping in the market place, just before his father came back from a mission.

He felt happy inside, as he played around with his fingers, excitedly, bored as ever. Little did he realize, his mother, was nowhere in sight.

_Time skip_

Shikaku leaned back against the tree as the sun started dipping behind the horizon. Shop keepers began closing up as he waited patiently around, he knew she was coming, he knew just what was taking her so long. To the shop keepers, they kept telling him to go away, and he was attracting unwelcome attention.

A slight creeping sadness, started taking over as he felt sick in the stomach, she never took this long. Shikaku felt worried as he picked himself off the tree and began to wander the stands, occasionally calling out his mother's name, in case she was last minute buying which was highly unusual for her.

Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder, Shikaku looked confused as he found his father crouched beside him, rubbing his head with a gentle smile. Faint traces of tears welled in the old man's tired old eyes, as his bloodied torn clothes was latched on to his body. Shikaku raised an eyebrow at his father's appearance, he looked worried as he realized his mother was missing once more.

"Dad, where's mother?" Shikaku asked slightly panicking, as his old man shed a tear, as silent as a mouse, unmoving, unspeaking as he held his son tightly. "Hey, you are scaring me, what is going on?"

"Your mother…" his father's voice choked, "She's gone."

Shikaku's world stopped, he grew distant while his father explained as his mind tried to understand what the old man said. Shikaku looked at his palm, as it shook violently, he clenched it into a fist. Tears grew in his eyes, he hugged his father tightly as the realisation hit.

_His mother was no more…_

**End of Chapter**

**That was a hard chapter to do. I promise it will be a lot more light soon, and a lot more action, fighting, and good old Naruto fun soon. Sorry it was a bit short.**

**Please review, and read on. Next time, Shikaku's mother funeral and, the genin selection finale begins. Cha!**


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